


Missing

by femmenoire



Category: Cold Case
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 16:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11235165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femmenoire/pseuds/femmenoire





	Missing

ADA Curtis Bell had always been a romantic. Probably to his detriment. He was the king of the grand gesture. But it never turned out like it did in the movies, probably because, while Bell loved the grand gestures, he was generally horrible at the little things, the day-to-day.

 But he tried.

And no matter what women say about wanting a man who understands romance, when faced with an apartment covered in rose petals and candles most women just think about tomorrow. The morning after.

When their toes uncurled, thighs stopped shaking, all their muscles ached from the abuse and that man was gone. By that time, all any level-headed woman can think about is how long it’s going to take to vacuum and sweep up all these damn petals and say a silent, irritated, prayer that the apartment building didn’t go up in flames during the night.

So Bell learned to curb his tendency towards the romantic overreaction. Especially now… when she was around.

If there was ever a woman who screamed “Try and sweep me off my at the risk of your kneecaps” it was Detective Kat Miller. And even though he was tempted to send two dozen roses to her desk or open doors for her in the police station just to see the way her skin warmed under his gaze, it probably wouldn’t look good if he walked into court with two black eyes.

But he allowed himself one indulgence. When he was near her, he watched her as much as he could. The way she cracked her knuckles when they started to ache during a marathon session filling out paperwork. The way she slipped the cap of her pen into her mouth when reading over case files. The way she ducked her head when she smiled. And tilted it back to laugh that full open mouth laugh that made every muscle in his mid-section clench.

Eventually this evolved into a habit of looking for her the minute he walked into the department. He hadn’t realized what he was doing at first. Not until the night Detective Jeffries was shot. In the midst of that tragedy he could only think of two people. His father… and Det. Kat Miller. That’s when he knew what he was feeling.

But one day he walked in, looking for her. And she was gone.

***

The day after Bell found out about Kat’s transfer to the East everything was just a little more dim. At least that’s how he would have described it if anyone asked him. But no one did. No one knew to.

He woke up from one of those nights of sleep that wasn’t quite restless, but was far from restful.

The sun shined through the large windows in his bedroom and he threw the covers over his head.

He still had a few more minutes before he had to get up officially. So he conjured his favorite mental image: Kat Miller, squinting up at him in the sunlight, that skeptical smile on her face that first piqued his interest, her smooth brown skin glowing.

***

“Hey, what’s up Counselor,” Detective Scotty Valens said in his gruff voice.

“Uh… nothing. Got your call. What do you got for me?”

“Armando Gutierrez. Suspect in a cold case we’re working. Double homicide on the East Side four years ago.”

“On the East Side.”

“Yea.”

“What’s the case?”

Scotty picked up an open case file on his desk. Joel and Christina Tennyson. Both early thirties, owned a bookstore, no kids, found shot in their store. Place was ransacked. Doer took a valuable book, first edition of The Grapes of Wrath. Police picked up Gutierrez trying to pawn it a couple days ago.”

“He got a record,” Bell asked, trying to concentrate on the sound of Scotty’s voice.

Scotty shot Bell an exasperated glare. “Of course. Robbery, robbery, possession of stolen property, assault,” he recited.

“Good,” Bell said, distractedly, his eyes shifting to her empty desk. “Where is he?”

***

He’d see her. He had seen her. But not nearly enough. It was never enough.

They worked all of the time and making room for each other was difficult, no matter how bad they both wanted it.

He hadn’t realized how much he counted on those little glimpses he stole everyday when their paths crossed, to get him through the day. He didn’t know how much he looked forward to walking down the hallway and smelling the slightly fruity scent of the oil she used in her hair until it was gone. Just knowing that she was walking down the same corridor a few minutes before made his heart beat a little faster. And the thought that they were walking in each other’s footsteps all day sent a shiver up his spine.

“Valens,” Bell yelled down the hallway, just a little too loud. He jogged down the hall to catch up with the detective, smiling apologetically at the strange looks he got from cops and perps alike.

“Bell,” Scotty said, slightly amused.

“I got that arrest warrant you wanted for Gutierrez’s partner uh…” he said, shuffling a load of files around to check the paperwork, “Nathan Evans.”

“Oh, thanks,” Scotty said, snatching the paper from Bell’s hand and heading towards the elevators. He took a few steps before he stopped and turned around. “You uh… wanna come?”

“Uh… do you need me there,” Bell asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

“Naw… Just thought you might wanna get a little fresh air. You’re not looking too good.”

“Aw nah, I’m fine,” Bell breathed, fidgeting with the tab of one of the folders in his hand.

“If you say so. So you coming or not?”

“Uh…”

“Make up your mind Counselor. Miller’s watching our guy but he probably won’t stay in one place for long.”

It took all of Bell’s self-restraint to stop from breaking into a wide, child-like grin at the mention of her name, but even he couldn’t keep the urgency out of his voice. “Uh… you know,” he coughed, hoping to rid his voice of that small squeak, “maybe I will come along. Lemme just drop these off. Meet you out front?”

“Yea,” Scotty said to Bell’s back as the attorney all but ran to the file clerk. “I thought you’d say that.”

***

“You have the right to remain silent…” Scotty began as he pushed Nathan Evans over the hood of his car.

Bell stepped out of the passenger side. Her back was to him.

He’d hadn’t been seeing clearly since her transfer, but the minute he saw her hair swaying down her back while she worked to disperse the crowd that gathered to watch the arrest, the fog began to clear.

He unconsciously smoothed his wrinkled suit, never taking his eyes from her.

When the brother of the perp tried to rush the car, Miller parted her jacket discreetly, flashing her weapon, and stopped the young hothead in his tracks.

“You wanna see him? Go down to the station,” he heard her say with the kind of authority that made not following her orders virtually impossible. A uniform cop came behind her to watch the young man and she turned, _finally_ , towards him.

She took a few steps before she faltered when their eyes met.

She ducked her head but he could just about make out that soft smile that he’d come to think of as his own.

Only for him.

He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses as a smile spread across his lips.


End file.
